Unbound

Now that Beef had a Taunt Skill, things moved faster.

The Minotaur would charge ahead, use his Desperate Provocation, and snag at least a dozen enemies at once. All undead. The canyon was utterly filled with the things, as they had killed everything else, monster or otherwise. Beef would use Relentless Charge to move through them, gathering more and more before turning tail and running. It took some coordination to get it right, since he had to manage both his Stamina and his relatively small Mana pool, but he got it eventually. Beef had very good instincts for combat, though he kept goggling at Felix's spell usage like a kid in a candy store.

Rain of Cataclysm was pretty flashy, Felix had to admit.

Rain of Cataclysm is level 72!

Felix was pretty sure he could have cleared the entire area himself, but his Body still hadn't recovered. Frankly he was worried at how long it was taking to heal. Even with eight cups of Isla's Panacea there was a lingering pain through his muscles and joints. Everything had been pushed to the breaking point in his fight against the Grandmaster, and then it had been worsened when Pit leveled up. The conflict between System Harmony and Primordial Dissonance was a knife in his guts—it was made infinitely more frustrating by the fact Felix had thought he'd had a handle on all that.

But it didn't start there, did it? He'd been on the mend since facing the Primordial's influence back in the Warren. The solution, he hoped, was to Temper his last two Body Skills immediately, but that was easier said than done. Sovereign of Flesh and Relentless Resolution were the clear candidates, both teetering at level 74, but both required him to push his Body hard. Not to mention the Essence requirements for Sovereign of Flesh. And my core space still feels stretched and swollen, ever since I ate all that water Mana in the crystals.

Even thinking of it sent a ripple of queasiness through him, emanating from the dark abyss between his cores. Felix's Hunger had routinely eaten the overflow of Mana and Essence he absorbed through his Chthonic Tribute, but with it refusing anything else Felix was forced to store the power within his core space. It could be utilized by his Skill, but it burned atop his Divine Tree like leaves of smoldering coals, and using it to fuel Sovereign of Flesh felt even worse than normal. And changing his skin into scales and claws had never been a joyride.

Bah. Stop worrying, he chastised himself. Either I Temper it or I don't, and we have Paladins to investigate.

Their rapid clearing of the canyons took remarkably little time. Thanks to Felix's store of Stamina and Mana potions, Beef was back on his feet quickly after each acid bath Felix enacted, and they kept moving. Thankfully, Beef had a fairly good idea of where the entrance was, though he'd never confirmed the exact details prior to being chased off by the Pathless' lackeys. So it wasn't

They peeked around the sheer orange cliffs and beheld a strange sight. Bodies. Literal tons of them piled high around a darkened section of the canyon wall, with long iron rods pressed forcibly into the dusty earth.

"Whooooa, they created a fortification out of zombies!" Beef said, a little too excitedly. He slapped a meaty hand over his own mouth. "Sorry."

Felix didn't answer but walked boldly around the corner and into the open area just outside the undead wall. "Don't worry. No one's in there. I can't hear a single person breathing or even moving...and the Mana is overwhelmingly earth and light and shadow. Not a spec of life or necromantic energy that I can see." He walked closer to the withered corpses stacked like cordwood and rammed through with more of those crude iron bars. It stank overpoweringly like powder, dry and strangely neutral. "I think...I think this is to keep the undead away. This doesn't smell like rotting corpses, and all of them have been slashed by a butcher's blade, or something like it. Yeah."

Without another word, Felix leaped straight up, easily bounding over the barrier and landing in an empty circle of bare stone. Similar walls of other Dustwights stretched around the entire area, leaving approximately a hundred square feet left around a shadowed recess. Immediately, tendrils of shadow Mana flickered and slithered from that recess, but they fell limp before they accomplished anything of note. Seconds later, they attempted to move again with the same result. Felix peered deeper, flaring his Perception.

The darkness peeled away from his vision, picking out an absolutely mammoth door. It was heavily decorated and made of the same orange stone as the canyon, except where it was banded with gold. It was covered by and surrounded with inert sigils that were carved strangely—more similar to the Archon's own invented language than modern sigaldry. The place was clearly ancient and the inert sigaldry accompanied by the tatters of Mana strands suggested that it had been protected. Not protected enough, apparently.

The doors were ajar, revealing a deeper darkness within.

Beside him, Beef landed with a loud thud. "So, someone made a fort? What for?"

"To hide the door from the undead," Felix said. "The Dustwights are attracted to something about the living, and these corpses are like an air purifier for the desiccated set. My real concern is why aren't there any guards? If it's the Paladins inside, then why take their entire force within?"

"Maybe it's a small group?" Beef suggested.

"Hmm." That did make sense. It was likely the largest part of their force was readying themselves to assault Ahkestria, just as he had seen weeks ago. "Then we have to assume that they're very strong. Probably upper Journeyman Tier, maybe a good few Adepts too."

"Shit," Beef said. He flexed his hands and his giant maul manifested in his grip. "Can you...can you fight people that strong?"

"I have," Felix said. Whether my Body will hold out when facing a company of Adepts is another question entirely. "We shouldn't waste more time. Pit."

His Companion had been pacing along the top of the canyon, keeping to ledges and out-of-reach roosts and providing occasional air support in the form of Frost Spears and Wingblades. At Felix's call a dark shadow enveloped them both as the tenku flew down and alighted in the small alcove of the dead.

Fight? he asked.

Soon. First we're going for a walk down that tunnel. Felix pointed out the door, and Pit gave an annoyed chirp.

More tunnels.

Felix grinned and scratched Pit's neck. "C'mon Beef. Call over Hallow and we'll get going."

"Ah, about that. I think I'll leave the Multipede out here," the Minotaur said. Felix arched an eyebrow, and Beef shrugged. "Not much use for a big sand-tunneler in some rocky tunnel, right? I'd rather have smaller summons."

Blackened-green Mana flowed from Beef's channels, spearing outward from his hands, elbows, and the base of his skull to splash into the wall of corpses.

"Hallowed Rise!" he commanded.

Dustwights began wriggling and writhing within the stacks, a full dozen of them that glowed with the same necromantic light as the Multipede. They clawed forward, one or two managing to escape the press of the walls, but the rest only flailed ineffectually. Beef cursed to himself and helped the rest of them out.

"See? Instant backup," Beef said at last. The Dustwights stood utterly still and unnerving, even if Felix knew they were being controlled by Hallow. "This was all I could grab outta the shit selection here. A lot of these are too messed up for my Skill to proc."

The guy looked so proud that Felix didn't want to tell him how creepy his new minions looked. Withered corpses infused with threads of blackened-green light and eyes that glowed like tiny torches.

"Do you have an upper limit on how many you can control at once?" Felix asked instead.

Beef shrugged. "Depends on their size, how long they've been dead, all sorts of stuff that I don't really understand. But these guys were like made to be Risen, ya know? Still, I'm surprised I was able to take control of this many."

"Why? I thought you said they were made for this?"

"Those Cursewinds? The tornados dump lots of these guys around the desert all the time, but I've never been able to take any of them over. Aside from being just, like, really strong, something about em would resist my Skill." Beef tucked his maul under an arm and rubbed his hands together in glee. "But now they're all primed for it. Hah!"

They were connected to the Primordial, so Beef couldn't take them over. Now they're not. Why? And how? Was it the butchering after death? Did that sever their link? Felix frowned at the walls of undead. The enchantment on the butcher blades were meant to stop natural deterioration for a time. Once the meat or materials were removed they achieved a new Type, changing from monsters to monster parts, which was not subjected to the Systems cleansing. Guess I've never thought about why the System makes monster corpses melt away. Is it...is it about severing connections of Affinity? Why?

Felix's Mind whirled as hundreds of thoughts flitted through his brain, considered and discarded in a handful of seconds. Ultimately he couldn't come to any real conclusions, but it was something to consider. Perhaps to experiment with in the future when he had the time. Someday.

"If you're ready, then we're entering. Now," Felix said. He didn't wait for Beef's answer, and strode purposefully toward the huge, open door. His Perception and Affinity stretched to their limits, Felix watched in as many directions as he could manage for any traps he might have missed. The gap was wide enough that even Pit could walk through with only a little squeezing, so they all slipped inside a darkened chamber shaped like a large diamond. Sand covered the cracked tiles and countless boot prints were pressed into it, leading down the single tunnel-like hallway.

It was utterly dark...until it wasn't.

A flash of Mana and the walls were abruptly illuminated with glimmering crystals set in ornate sconces. Blue, green, and golden light poured across them all, totally harmless and fully exposing them to a potential ambush. Yet Felix sensed there wasn't a single living soul within range of his senses, which was considerable.

Welcome To The Tomb Of Eternal Slumber!

Exploration is level 64!

You Have Entered A Lair!

Warning! Do Not—!

ERROR!

Protections In Place! Halt—!

ERROR!

Primordial Detected!

Lair Protections Deactivated!

Be Welcomed, Scion Of The Unseen Tide!

"Fuck me," Felix whispered.

"What the hell was all that about?" Beef asked. "What's the Unseen Tide?"

Felix didn't answer, because just then a memory flickered into place in his head. A snippet of conversation he'd witnessed during one of his visions weeks ago. It replayed in the distinct voice of Hallow.

"They are still bound to the Tomb, Michael. You cannot take possession of them until you take the Tomb as well."

"The Dustwights. They were bound to this Tomb...and you knew it," Felix said. He turned to glare at a visibly guilty Beefhammer. "What else are you holding back?"

"I—honestly, I don't know much! The Tomb is connected to the undead, but I don't know why or even how. Hallow was the one who realized they were related, but we never told Naos. Isla. Whatever."

"Dammit, of course this is how it turns out," Felix muttered, glaring around the diamond-shaped chamber. "There's gonna be more undead further in."

"So what? So what if there's more undead in here! You just melted an army of them!" Beef said. "I mean, they're like trash mobs to you. What's a few more?"

Felix groaned and rubbed at his temples while Pit only shook his head at the foolish bull. "Because if those undead are connected to this Tomb, then that means there is a Primordial down here...and since we just killed an army of his creatures, it probably knows we're coming."

"Uh...what's a Primordial?"

Over the next few minutes, Felix gave Beef a terse history on Primordials, emphasizing how dangerous they were. Even when they weren't controlling thousands of undead, some of which would likely give the Minotaur a run for his money in Strength and would definitely outmatch him in Agility. That had penetrated the dense necro-warrior at least.

He had refrained from informing Beef of his Race, or exactly what the Unseen Tide happened to be.

"We're in a Lair, Beef. Keep your hands to yourself and eyes up. I don't know what to expect, but it won't be pleasant," Felix said at last.

A Lair. Karys had once told him of Lairs, but Felix was more familiar with their common variation: Domains. All Lairs started as Nests, places where monsters lived or congregated in great numbers and once a certain threshold was reached they evolved into a Domain and began to alter the environment around itself. How the environment was altered was highly dependant on the nature and strength of the Domain Core. A Lair was a rare Domain evolution, because it required the Domain's boundaries to remain unruptured for a great length of time and an immense amount of power in the Domain Core. Basically, the opposite of what happened back in Haarwatch. And if Felix had to make a guess, the Primordial was the Domain Core in the Tomb, so he did not expect a leisurely trip.

The path they followed was cavernous and rough, but the floor was polished smooth and inlaid with blue-green stone. Cracks marred their surface and stone dust and sand gathered in every crevice and corner. Alcoves dotted the length of the hall and were empty and dark, save for the rare Mana crystal. While the entrance chamber had been well lit, the tunnel was increasingly decrepit the further they walked. Rust-colored streaks covered the floor and walls in places, and somewhere water dripped in random intervals.

Then they saw the bodies.

Men and women in crimson plate armor were scattered about the tunnel, most of them severed in half as if by something very, very sharp. Fresher bloodstains slicked the tiles, and with a grimace Felix nudged the nearest corpse with his boot. The gesture made its torso wobble, the flesh giving unpleasantly. If what he recalled from thousands of hours of procedural cop dramas were accurate, then they hadn't died that long ago.

"Traps," Beef said suddenly. When Felix shot him a questioning glance, he pointed to the walls. "The stone is cut here and here. It's really thin, but I would bet that some sort of razor sharp blade comes out swinging when people try to pass through."

Felix flared his Manasight, but either the material that comprised the tunnel or some other hidden aspect blocked his vision. He could clearly see the thin slits in the walls however, and after a bit more searching he spotted even more coming up from the floor as well. That explains why that guy looks diced instead of simply split.

"Paladins lots quite a few people to these traps, and like I said, these people were powerful. We can't underestimate the defenses in this Lair." Felix looked at the ceiling. "Looks like we can go over it, if we're careful. But," he bit his lip. "Let me check something first."

"Hey! Don't—!" Beef reached out to him, but was too slow to stop Felix from stepping exactly where a few severed Paladin legs still stood. The bulky warrior gaped for a few seconds. "Nothing's happening."

Felix grinned, thinking on the System message he'd received when entering the Tomb. "It's about time something went my way. Seems I'm exempt from the traps here."

Primordial Detected!

Lair Protections Deactivated!

Be Welcomed, Scion Of The Unseen Tide!

Be Welcomed, indeed.

"The Paladins are close and we can catch up. Pit, Converge if you please. Beef, to me. Close as possible." His Companion chirruped once before disappearing in a flash of light, while Felix walked back out of the traps activation area. Beef stared at the slits on the walls and was sweating, despite the coolness of the passage.

"You're sure they won't go off?" he asked.

Felix's grin turned sharp. "Pretty sure. What's life without a little risk though?"

"Uh, a good one?" Beef said. "I'm not looking to get slap-chopped into a salad."

"Salad's good for you," Felix said, grabbing the Minotaur's arm. He hauled the guy forward despite Beef digging in his hooves. "And we're in a hurry."

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